Wednesday Wilco Song Spotlight: “Evicted”

This entry of the Wednesday Wilco Song Spotlight shines on a track from Jeff Tweedy, and company’s latest album, Cousin. It is the first song to be covered from Wilco’s 13th studio release in this series, so this serves as a preview of its future entry in an updated edition of my book, Wilcopedia.

“Evicted” (Jeff Tweedy)

Shortly after “Evicted,” the first single off of Cousin dropped online on August 1, fans and critics noted the tune’s similarity to Prince’s 1985 hit “Raspberry Beret.” Kitty Empire of the Guardian even wrote that song is “a pretty heartbreak ballad that boasts shades of Prince’s Raspberry Beret’ as played by Teenage Fanclub.”

 

Tweedy addressed the issue on his Substack newsletter, Starship Casual (click to subscribe), in a Chit Chat Check-in audio segment available to subscribers called “Raspberry Evicted Beret.” In what he also called a “Prince TED Talk,” Tweedy explained that he “doesn’t hear” the songs sounding alike, and said that he learned “Raspberry Beret” so that he could play the songs side-by-side.

After playing a bit of Prince’s tune, and discussing that it “things that were out of my skill set to sing, and some things that I don’t relate to in terms of romantic conquests,” he went on to play a chunk of “Evicted,” and remark, “I don’t think Prince would say he deserved that” (referring to the song’s repeated refrain “I deserve it”).

 

It’s understandable that Tweedy would want to underline the differences in the lyrical stance (as he says it’s important for him to do so), but while the choruses are very different as he displays, it’s the phrasing in the verses that have the vibe of the verses in Prince’s mid ‘80s A-side, and LP album track from his psychedelic pop album, Around the World in a Day.

 

Otherwise “Evicted” is an infectious, folky take on the old standard lover’s lament which combines George Harrison-style guitar licks, with a groovy beat, and a catchy chorus sealing the deal: “I’m evicted from your heart.”

 

In a press release for the song and the album (released on September 29) Tweedy wrote, “I guess I was trying to write from the point of view of someone struggling to make an argument for themself in the face of overwhelming evidence that they deserve to be locked out of someone’s heart. Self-inflicted wounds still hurt and in my experience they’re almost impossible to fully recover from.”

 

Tweedy debuted “Evicted” at a solo show at Largo at the Coronet in Los Angeles on January 6 of this year. The second performance of the song at the same venue appeared on Episode 218 of The Tweedy Show. The song was played by Tweedy at six solo shows before Wilco took it on at their show on August 22 in France at Ramonville St Agne (Le Bikini).

 

Wilco has performed “Evicted” at every show since then, and went on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to play it the other night (Oct. 9), which you can see at the top of this post. I’ll conclude with another version of the song from The Tweedy Show (Episode 221, August 2, 2023):

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10 Years Ago Today, Dylan Nailed “The Weight” With MMJ's Jim James And Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy

In the summer of 2013, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy took part in one of the most epic renditions of The Band’s roots rock classic “The Weight,” to date. The occasion was the Americanarama Festival of Music tour, in which Wilco, and My Morning Jacket opened for the legendary headliner, Bob Dylan. While the tour began with each act doing their own sets, a few collaborations cropped up with MMJ’s Jim James, and Tweedy joining Dylan for covers of the Reverend Gary Davis’ “Twelve Gates to the City,” and Blind Willie Johnson’s “Let Your Light Shine on Me.”

But those obscure one-offs were followed by the much more recognizable likes of Robbie Robertson’s “The Weight,” which premiered at Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach on July 24, 2013. The twangy opening chords, that has become a rock standard since its 1968 release on The Band’s Music From the Big Pink, instantly made the audience erupt (on the YouTube clip of the song above, someone yelling “Holy shit!” can be heard), and Dylan’s croaky handling of the first verse continued the rapt reception. 

After James’ soulful singing of the second verse, Tweedy, who had played “Bob Dylan’s 49th Beard” in Wilco’s set earlier that evening, wonderfully sang the third verse. Dylan masterfully regained the song for verse #4, and they all provided their ragged harmonies to the song’s concluding lines.

I was at this show, and was among those whose jaws dropped when this song was played. I rank it among the greatest moments I’ve ever seen live as it was a definitive performance through and through.

 

Despite his history with The Band, and the fact that he owned the song’s copyright (Robertson wrote it while being paid a salary by Dylan), this was only the second time that Dylan had performed “The Weight” live. On their Dylan and the Band’s much heralded 1974 tour, he would often leave the stage during The Band’s sets, and there’s no evidence that he ever joined in on the song, but at Levon Helm’s gig at Lone Star Café in New York on May 29, 1988, Dylan provided his hearty vocals and guitar to the crowd pleaser. 

 

Dylan, James, and Tweedy went on to play “The Weight” three more times on the Americanarama tour in 2013 picking up some guests stars along the way to help out. The J. Geils Band’s Peter Wolf helped out at Pier A Park in Hoboken, New Jersey on July 26, Ryan Bingham guested at the USANA Amphitheatre, West Valley City, Utah on August 1, and at the tour’s last performance of the classic at the Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre in Irvine, California on August 3.

Tweedy wouldn’t return to the song for nearly a decade until Wilco broke it out for their Sky Blue Sky 2022 festival at the Hard Rock Hotel in Riviera Maya, Mexico. Mavis Staples, after belting out The Staples Singers’ signature song, “I’ll Take You There,” with Tweedy and Co. again put in a passionate performance of “The Weight.” Wilco, and Staples were also joined by Sima Cunningham, Liam Kazar, Kurt Vile, Nubya Garcia, and Spencer Tweedy for the song that served as the show’s finale.

In his upcoming book, World Within a Song, Tweedy wrote about the much-loved tune, particularly the live version from Martin Scorsese’s 1978 concert classic film “The Last Waltz,” and Staples’ performance (from an excerpt posted on Tweedy’s Substack newsletter Starship Casual):

“As great as the original studio recording of this song is, it doesn’t have Mavis Staples. I’ve watched it a thousand times and I still can’t understand the full ramifications of what it tells us about Mavis’s singular talent. Pure commitment, entirely free of pretense, a range of emotions on display in one line that surpasses what most other singers could summon up in an entire career…and above all else, the thing I think it’s impossible to find more of in any other footage of any other artist, joy.”

So let’s end with that performance as it may be the most definitive version of “The Weight” there is:

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What’s Up With Wilco (2022 Year-End Edition)

 

2022 was a very busy year for everybody’s, at least mine, favorite band from Chicago. Over the last trip around the sun, Wilco played 59 shows, released their 12th studio album, Cruel Country (a double record with 21 tracks); released a 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (featuring 84 previously unreleased tracks), and, maybe most importantly, appeared with comedian Nikki Glaser on Carpool Karaoke.

We’ll start with that as it’s the most recent Wilco activity having dropped in early December via Apple TV. The 19-minute segment, which was Episode 9, Season 5, from the spin-off of the popular Carpool Karaoke series hosted by James Corden on The Late Late Show featured super Wilco fan Glasser meeting her musical heroes – that is the three members who took part: Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, and Glenn Kotche - and driving around the windy city singing along to their songs “Casino Queen,” “Random Name Generator,” and “Heavy Metal Drummer.”

The gushing Glasser got Tweedy to relay his off-told Springsteen story – i.e. how as a kid he told his third grade classmates that “Born to Run” was his creation – which led to a sing-a-long to that classic Boss song, then we got a Mavis Staples cameo with a bit of her Staples Singers hit, “I’ll Take You There,” and they concluded with a visit to the float used in the parade scene in the 1986 Chicago-shot FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF for a “Twist and Shout” performance complete with Glasser wearing Ferris’s pink vest, and dancers re-creating the steps moves in the background. Que it up on Apple TV+.

 

Tweedy and company both celebrated their past, and gave us new music in 2022. With their round of shows in April performing Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in full (with a smattering of encore songs), and releasing unearthed material from the album’s early aughts sessions in various Deluxe Editions in September, alongside putting out the double LP, Cruel Country, on May 27, on which they performed it in full at their Solid Sound at MASS Moca (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) in North Adams, Massachusetts.

I must also plug the upcoming vinyl release of Cruel Country on January 20, 2023. Like many fans, I've been looking forward to this physical release since last summer so click here to pre-order in various bundles 'n whatnot:

We also celebrated the 20th Anniversary of Sam Jones’ 2002 documentary, I AM TRYING TO BREAK YOUR HEART, which captured some insightful moments during the YHF sessions to say the least.

Wilco's next scheduled live events are a three night residency at Eldborg Hall located at the Harpa Center in Reykjavik, Iceland (April 6-8, 2023), and then at the High Water Festival in North Charleston, South Carolina on April 16, 2023 (I hope to be there).

I didn’t attend any of the nearly 60 shows that Wilco played in 2022, but I did see Tweedy perform a wonderful solo show in Lexington, Kentucky on October 19. 

Tweedy appeared as part the Kentucky Theater’s 100th Anniversary Celebration, and played a sweet set which featured, fittingly, nice helpings of Cruel Country, and YHF (five songs each), plus choice cuts like the solo song “Gwendolyn” from Love is the King (2020), and the long-time crowd favorites like Uncle Tupelo’s “New Madrid,” and “California Stars” from the Mermaid Avenue project with Billy Bragg. 

 

I shot one video at the show: “Hummingbird” from A Ghost is Born, a song I’ve seen Tweedy perform a lot, but it’s a good one:

Lastly, The Tweedy Show just ran its 217th episode on Monday, December 26 and it was a doozy! Here’s Jeff covering Fleetwood Mac’s “Little Lies” in tribute to the recently departed Christie Mcvie, who wrote the song with Richard Dashut:

As this is Wilcopedia (The Blog)’s last entry of 2022, thanks to everybody for their support! I’m working on the second edition of Wilcopedia (go to Amazon to rate and review the book too!), with hope due for Wilco’s 30th Anniversary in 2024 so sales of the first edition have helped to that goal.

 

So until next time, I hope everyone is having a great holiday season, and will have a Happy New Year!

 

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My Annual Wilcopedia Makes A Great Christmas Gift Post

Hey folks, here’s my annual shameless plug for my book – you know, the one this blog is based on - Wilcopedia: A Comprehensive Guide to The Music of America's Best Band - on sale now at a super low price on Amazon. The sales of this 2019 first edition will help make way for the second edition, ideally set for 2024, which will be celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Jeff Tweedy and company’s Wilco work.

Wilcopedia contains entries for every album, including entries for every song from A.M. to Schmilco, sections on each member, live material, film and TV appearances; covers, etc. It offers insights and background into the superb Chicago band's canon unavailable in any other book on the band (and now there are quite a few). And there are color photos too!

 

So If you’re a fan or know somebody who is, Wilcopedia, which Mojo said was “a useful tome for the fan to crack open whenever a Wilco record blares through the speakers,” consider this great gift idea at its low price.

 

Okay, enough of my hyping – such shameless plugging always wears me out.

 

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Watch Wilco's Surprise Show At Chicago's Carol's Pub 10/9 W/Poster, Set-lists, & Tweets!

Original Show Poster Designed by Evan Wachowski/Printed by Kyle Baker

Not even two days after I had pondered whether Wilco’s Cruel Country tour had come to a close came about a surprise show announcement. Actually three shows, as Jeff Tweedy and company ended up performing three sets at Carol’s Pub in Chicago on Sunday, October 9, at 7, 9, and 11 pm. Here’s the tweet that kicked off the event:

Here’s a CBS News segment about the shows:

And now let’s get into the set-lists for the dream show for fans that had Wilco going back to their small club roots. This was evident in the covers that appropriate for the intimate performance like Bob Dylan’s “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You,” and Tom T. Hall’s “That’s How I Got To Memphis,” and in the ole Uncle Tupelo tunes like “New Madrid” that were sure crowd pleasers. Considering the capacity at Carol's is around 200 people for each show, several hundreds of lucky Wilco fans were certainly in heaven on Sunday night. Here’s what they heard:

The 7pm show:

“Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You” (Bob Dylan) / “I Am My Mother” / “Cruel Country” / “New Madrid” / “That’s How I Got To Memphis” (Tom T. Hall) / “Please Be Wrong” / “Someday Soon” / “Hesitating Beauty” / “Death of the Last Stripper” (Terry Allen and the Panhandle Mystery Band)/ “She’s My Rock” (Stoney Edwards) / “Falling Apart (Right Now)” / “Give Back the Key To My Heart” (Doug Sahm) / “A Lifetime to Find” / “U.S. Blues” (Grateful Dead) / “Reincarnation” (Roger Miller)

 

The 9pm show:

“Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You” / “I Am My Mother” / “Cruel Country” / “Far, Far Away” / “Forget The Flowers” / “That’s How I Got To Memphis” (Tom T. Hall) / “It’s Just That Simple” / “New Madrid” / “She's My Rock” / “Someday Soon” / “Hesitating Beauty” / “Death of the Last Stripper” / “A Lifetime To Find” / “Give Back the Key to My Heart” / “Falling Apart (Right Now)” / “U.S. Blues”

 

The 11pm show:

“Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You” / “I Am My Mother” / “Cruel Country” / “Far, Far Away” / “That’s How I Got To Memphis” / “Forget The Flowers” / “It’s Just That Simple” / “New Madrid” / “Story To Tell” / “Someday Soon” / “Hesitating Beauty” / “She’s My Rock” / “Falling Apart (Right Now)” / “Give Back the Key to My Heart”/ “A Lifetime to Find” / “U.S. Blues” / “Reincarnation”

And finally, videos of the show, courtesy of Susie Tweedy, and SoabTtirb:

Whew! Whatta great Wilco event all around. Stay tuned as it’s pretty clear that this band ain't finished with providing Cruel Country in 2022.

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Wilco’s Cruel Country Tour Wraps Up For 2022 – Or Does It?

Last night, Wilco played their last scheduled show on their Cruel Country tour for 2022 in Columbia, Missouri. Now there are just under three months left in the year, so there’s plenty of dates that could be scheduled, but for now the next date for Jeff Tweedy and company is set for a residency in Reykjavik, Iceland on April 7, 2023. Thanksgiving and/or Christmas dates, most likely Chicago-set, of course, could very well be announced, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, Tweedy is going to be serving up a solo show at the Kentucky Theatre in Lexington, KY on October 19, 2022, which I’m going to be attending. The performance is part of the Kentucky Theatre’s 100thAnniversary Celebration so I’m pretty psyched about the event. Of course, there will be more about this in future posts.

But for now, let’s look back at what might be the last several sets of songs Wilco played this year:

Radians Amphitheater, Memphis, TN 10/2/22

“Handshake Drugs” / “I Am My Mother” / “Cruel Country” / “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” / “Hints” / “War on War” / “Via Chicago” (with “Many Worlds” coda) / “Story to Tell” / “Hummingbird” / “Bird Without a Tail/Base of My Skull” / “Jesus, Etc.” / “Impossible Germany” / “California Stars” / “Falling Apart (Right Now)” / “U.S. Blues” / “I Got You (At the End of the Century)” / “Outtasite (Outta Mind)”

The following shows were both streamed by nugs.net. You can watch clips of the opening songs from both nights, “Misunderstood,” and “Handshake Drugs” below.

Civic Theatre, New Orleans, LA 10/4/22

Official show poster by Nate Duval

“Misunderstood” / “Cruel Country” / “Far, Far Away” / “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” / “Hints” / “War on War” / “Cry All Day” / “Via Chicago” / “At Least That’s What You Said” / “Story to Tell” / “Whole Love” / “All Across the World” / “Born Alone” / “Ambulance” / “Sunken Treasure” / “Jesus, Etc.” / “Love is Everywhere (Beware)” / “California Stars” / “A Lifetime to Find” / “Heavy Metal Drummer” / “Spiders (Kidsmoke)”

Encore: “Red-Eyed and Blue” / “I Got You (At the End of the Century)” / “U.S. Blues”

Civic Theatre, New Orleans, LA 10/5/22

“Handshake Drugs” / “A Shot in the Arm” / “The Universe” / “I Am My Mother” / “Cruel Country” / “Kamera” / “Random Name Generator” / “If I Ever Was a Child” / “Laminated Cat” / “Poor Places” / “Reservations” / “Bird Without a Tail/Base of My Skull” / “Everyone Hides” / “Hummingbird” / “Hearts Hard to Find” / “Impossible Germany” / “Forget the Flowers” / “Mystery Binds” / “Box Full of Letters” / “It’s Just That Simple” / “Theologians” / “I’m the Man Who Loves You”

Encore: “Falling Apart (Right Now)” / “Monday” / “Outtasite (Outta Mind)” / “U.S. Blues”

Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival 2022: Stephens Lake Park, Columbia 10/7/22

“Handshake Drugs” / “I Am My Mother” / “Cruel Country” / “Hearts Hard to Find” / “Hints” / “War on War” / “Via Chicago” (with “Many Worlds” coda) / “Story to Tell” / “Hummingbird” / “Bird Without a Tail/Base of My Skull” / “Jesus, Etc.” / “Impossible Germany” / “California Stars” / “Falling Apart (Right Now)” / “U.S. Blues” / “I Got You (At the End of the Century)” / “Outtasite (Outta Mind)”

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Wilco Gives The Grateful Dead’s “U.S. Blues” The Cruel Country Treatment

This week’s Wednesday Wilco Song Spotlight shines on a cover that has been currently cropping up in the band’s encores:

“U.S. Blues” (Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter)

The Grateful Dead’s “U.S. Blues,” which opens their 1974 studio album, From the Mars Hotel, isn’t really a blues tune. It’s more of a rollicking anthem with its punchy verses and sing-a-long chorus, as can be witnessed in the blazing rendition from the Winterland Ballroom in Oct. ’74 that opens THE GRATEFUL DEAD MOVIE (1977):

The Grateful Dead performed the crowd-pleaser, “U.S. Blues,” well over 300 times in their touring career up until the death of founder/front man Jerry Garcia in 1994, and then has been continued life through performances with such Dead off-shoots as Dead & Company, Furthur, the Phil Lesh and Friends, etc.

Last August, Wilco leader Jeff Tweedy, and his band’s lead guitarist, Nels Cline, performed with Phil Lesh & Friends at the inaugural Sacred Rose Festival at the SeatGeek Stadium outside Chicago under the banner of Philco. The one-off (for now) supergroup performed a 14-song set of mostly Dead classics, with guest appearances by Wilco’s “Via Chicago,” and “Airline to Heaven” from Tweedy and company’s Woody Guthrie/Mermaid Avenue collaboration with Billy Bragg.

The event featured Tweedy’s debuts on the Dead classics, “Dire Wolf,” “Franklin’s Tower,” and his lead on the show closer “Ripple,” a song which he’s performed multiple times since the ‘90s. But “U.S. Blues,” also a first for the Wilco front man, was an early stand-out in the set as can be seen in this cool clip:

When Wilco’s Cruel Country tour resumed after Sacred Rose, “U.S. Blues” made the transition from Philco to a prominent spot in their show’s encores for almost every show they’ve played since. As Tweedy expresses such sentiments as “I love my country, stupid and cruel,” on Wilco’s latest studio offering, Garcia/Hunter’s cynical digs at nationalism in the mid ‘70s rocker thematically fit like a glove in the band’s present-day repertoire.

When “U.S. Blues,” which is populated by the likes of Uncle Sam, Charlie Chan, and P.T. Barnum, comes off as a sarcastic call to “Wave the flag, wave it wide and high,” it could easily be coupled with Tweedy’s “Adjust your eyes to the light/Let them roll with pride,” from Cruel Country’s “Hints.”

Tweedy and Cline’s premiere performance with Philco of “U.S. Blues,” and its following nine encore appearances by Wilco have cemented the song as a crucial cover in the band’s catalog. An entry based on this post will be added to the Wilco: The Covers section in future editions of Wilcopedia.

I’ll conclude with the most recent performance by Wilco of “U.S. Blues” at the Fargo Brewery in Fargo, North Dakota on September 11, 2022:

 

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